The Digital Executive: Transformation won’t be easy. In fact, it will be hard!

So many times, transformation into a customer focused world is framed as a no brainer. We feel like idiots that we aren’t there yet. Why aren’t we on board? Why is our company so immature?

The fact is, transformation is hard. It is hard, hard work. It takes discipline. It won’t happen overnight.

It isn’t free. It will cost us not only a little but a lot.

We need to convince ourselves, and other leaders, it is worth it and that we will be in it for the long haul. Otherwise, what is the point of it all?

It requires discipline. Ad-hoc approaches can solve isolated problems, but systemic change requires a much more disciplined approach. That’s why the quality movement created tools and techniques — many of which are still used in corporate Six Sigma efforts. These new approaches were necessary to establish effective, repeatable, and scalable methods. A key portion of the effort was around training employees on how to use these new techniques. Customer experience efforts will also require training around new techniques. Here are a few posts that describe this type of discipline: Four Customer Experience Core Competencies,Customer Journey Mapping, and The Six Ds of a closed-loop VoC Program.

So, why should I make an effort? I can’t answer this for you. You must decide it is worth it. You must commit to seeing it through. What benefits do you think will come from it all? Is it really worth it? Is this something you see being engaged in five years from now?

The “why” of it all is important to know. It is worth taking a few days off to figure it out. It is useful to engage your team in deciding to move ahead. It will be time well spent.